Editing Roy Orbison (section)

===="Only the Lonely"====
[[File:Blue Angel - Today's Teardrops - Billboard ad 1960.jpg|thumb|right|''[[Billboard (magazine)|Billboard]]'' advertisement, September 12, 1960]] 
Experimenting with a new sound, Orbison and Joe Melson wrote a song in early 1960, which in using elements from "Uptown" and another song they had written called "Come Back to Me (My Love)", employed strings and the Anita Kerr doo-wop backing singers.<ref name="Zak, p. 35.">Zak, p. 35.</ref> It also featured a note hit by Orbison in [[falsetto]] that showcased a powerful voice, which according to biographer Clayson, "came not from his throat, but deeper within".<ref>Clayson, p. 77.</ref> The song was "[[Only the Lonely|Only the Lonely (Know the Way I Feel)]]". Orbison was passing through Memphis when he tried to pitch the song to Elvis Presley (along with several other songs) to make some money quickly, but it was early in the morning and Presley did not want to see Orbison at that time.<ref name="Amburn"/>{{refpage|p91}} Orbison and Melson instead recorded the song at RCA Victor's Nashville studio, with sound engineer Bill Porter trying a completely new strategy, building the mix from the top down rather than from the bottom up, beginning with close-microphoned backing vocals in the foreground, and ending with the rhythm section soft in the background.<ref name="Lehman, p. 48."/><ref>{{cite interview |interviewer=Michael Fremer |last=Porter |first=Bill |date=January 1, 2006 |url=http://www.musicangle.com/feat.php?id=108 |title=Recording Elvis and Roy With Legendary Studio Wiz Bill Porter-Part II |website=MusicAngle |access-date=February 8, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110714134327/http://www.musicangle.com/feat.php?id=108 |archive-date=July 14, 2011}}</ref> This combination became Orbison's trademark sound.<ref name="Zak, p. 35."/>

"Only the Lonely" shot to number two on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 and hit number one in the UK and Australia.<ref name="offbio" /> According to Orbison, the subsequent songs he wrote with Melson during this period were constructed with his voice in mind, specifically to showcase its range and power. He told ''Rolling Stone'' in 1988, "I liked the sound of [my voice]. I liked making it sing, making the voice ring, and I just kept doing it. And I think that somewhere between the time of "Ooby Dooby" and "Only the Lonely", it kind of turned into a good voice."<ref name="rockhall">{{cite web |url=http://www.rockhall.com/inductees/roy-orbison |title=Roy Orbison |publisher=[[Rock and Roll Hall of Fame]] |access-date=May 21, 2009}}</ref> At the time of its recording, though, Orbison was struggling to earn a living, because he was only working as a singer at local dances.<ref name="Amburn"/>{{refpage|p94}} Also, the days of his working with Melson were numbered, due to disagreements such as who came up with the title for "Only the Lonely".<ref name="Amburn"/>{{refpage|p95}} The success of "Only the Lonely" transformed Orbison into an overnight star, and he appeared on Dick Clark's ''Saturday Night Beechnut Show'' in New York City.{{sfnp|Slate, Orbison et al.|2017|p=78}} When Presley heard "Only the Lonely" for the first time, he bought a box of copies to pass to his friends.<ref name="Amburn"/>{{refpage|p98}}